'Tis the Season: Selling During the Holidays
During the holiday season, the focus for many turns to home and family. Many buyers cease searching for a new home during this time; however, there are many others who have no choice--they must continue their search because of job transfers, family changes or relocation. Due to the fact that many sellers feel that during this holiday season, they would prefer not to be 'disturbed,' they will temporarily remove their homes from the market until after the first of the year.
I recommend that my sellers remain on the market during this time if at all possible. The reason--there is far less competition. Yes, there are fewer buyers but, the competition is far less and you've got a better chance of selling during this season than waiting for the spring's flood of new listings.
Consider this--holiday festivities are a breeze at your home that is on the market during this season because you have already done the work to constantly keep your home in showing order to be prepared for a showing at a moment's notice. Your efforts to reach out to potential buyers could pay off during this challenging time!
When your home offers the features and amenities. location and price that a potential buyer is looking for, you are more likely to sell it quickly in the winter than waiting for the spring or summer buying seasons. Your home may very well be looking its best this time of year. Here are some tips for setting the stage for your holiday listing:
Adorn your front door with a festive wreath.- Place a fresh welcome mat at the front door.
- Minimize your holiday decorations--tastefully selected decorations will give the buyer a 'warm' feeling but, not distract their eyes from your home, which is what you want to ultimately sell.
- Remove furniture to accomodate your decorations--you don't want your home to appear smaller than it is because you've tucked a small tree in the corner and pushed your furniture together to accomodate that tree.
- Holiday scents will make your home seem warm and welcoming--consider boiling an apple slice and a stick of cinnamon just before a showing. You can store your boiling pot in the refrigerator for several days for re-use.
- If you're only stepping out of the home for the agents to show, leave it toasty with a fire in the fireplace. Do not leave your home unattended with a fire burning though!
- Because winter months can be dreary because of the weather, raise your blinds and leave the lights on.
- Do not over-decorate--all buyers do not celebrate the holidays in the same manner that you do so, give your home a warm feeling but, don't overdo it.
- Leave your stereo playing classical or jazz music softly during showings.
- As you leave your home for showings, ask yourself if you've appealed to all senses: visual, smell and sound. You may even want leave them cookies to appeal to their sense of taste!
Other holiday incentives you can offer:
- If you can cover the buyer’s closing costs, or a portion thereof, you may attract potential buyers to your home by advertising this information.
- Offer a “decorating allowance” for purchasing your home during the winter months.
Keep in mind that when you place or leave your home on the market during the winter holiday season, people rarely “browse” for homes during this time of year. The potential buyers who do visit your home are serious about buying and are often in a hurry to do so.
The equation is simple: Serious buyers + tastefully done festive décor = you, well on the way to selling your home! 'Tis the season!
(THE best Charlotte home search available - no kidding!)
Debe Maxwell, CRS/Realtor®/Broker
Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com
Phone (704) 491-3310
I so love the smell of a fresh Frazier fur and the mired of smells that are associated with the holidays. So does the buyers. Great tips here girl!
Debe- Great reasons to sell during the Holidays and great tips for home owners or agents. I love walking into a beautifully decorated Holiday home with the smells of Christmas!
Debe, great info. Thanks for the tips. Love the photos too.
Debe,
All good stuff. Another one is that people already are in a buying and spending mood during December. :)
Steve
Debe - excellent suggestions for showing homes during the holiday season. Happy holidays to you and your family!
I've done a lot of selling in the winter months . . . buyers are serious if they're looking at property in the rain, sleet, snow . . . almost as dedicated as our postal service ;-)
Laura: Thanks! And, me too on the smells! I'm a cinnamon and frazier fur girl--that aroma just gives me that warm, holiday feeling!
Vanessa: Thanks, I do too! 'Tis the season!
Craig: Thank you and you're welcome!
Sharon: Hey, girl! Right back at 'cha!
Carla: That's exactly right! I would HAVE to be ready to buy to be out freezing my bones instead of in a warm mall for the holidays!
This holiday season may actually be the best time for sellers in years due to the 90-day restriction on comps coupled with the surge of existing sales last month and surge in pending sales. Something sellers have to consider.
James: I TOTALLY agree! I'm advising all of my sellers to STAY in the market as this could very well be THE best time to SELL!
Debe-Great ideas and tips.
So many people ask me about this... I tell them yes.
In Michigan....the buyers looking during the holiday are SERIOUS buyers, no one is out kicking tires when it is cold and snowy.
Personally, I think the homes look great all fixed up.
Joseph: Thanks!
Missy: Thanks! Somehow I knew you'd agree! And, frankly, I love showing homes during this time--I love the scents and decorations too--I can step back and enjoy them!
Great Post! My partner and I recommend to sellers that when they are selling through the holidays to keep the decorating scheme as simple as possible. I advise a max of 3 decorating elements per space - so for a family room I suggest a great table centerpiece, some tasteful items for the mantle (candlesticks with shimmery candles) and the xmas tree.
We also recommend that blow up santas/reindeer/frosty be kept packed in their boxes and instead highlight the front of the home with some tall urns filled with hazel twigs, white lights, red berries and pine sprigs.
Scents are also important. Not overwhelming buyers with faux christms scents is very important - instead rely on clean, fresh house smells to romance them!
Debe, i love this and may make it my very first re-blog. Like you I am busy and will have two new listings in the next few weks as wel as at least four buyers who will be looking in earnest through the holiday season! The buyers who are looking now are VERY SERIOUS so it behooves us to have inventory available! Hope your holidays are as enjoyable as they are busy!
Debe, your blog pretty much covers everything. I bought my own home, during the holiday seasons. So, I know that buyers at this time of the year are the serious ones.
Just emphasizing on some of the points that you made, first of all, thanks for making the comment about not leaving homes with the fireplace on. To my amazement, I've seen people doing just the opposite. The holiday decoration, should be simple and elegant and PLEASE make sure that the decoration colors goes with your general home decor color palate. You want your home to stand out and not your your decorations. Holiday scents that you mentioned are great, because they're the natural ingredients and not the artificial scents. The sellers should also remember, that not everybody celebrates the same holidays as them. To make homes more festive and less personal, consider doing less of a "holiday look" and going for more of a "winter look", everybody identifies with the season.
One of the most important jobs of the sellers during the winter season, is to keep the access to their house clear and safe. Buyers won't come in, if they've to deal with all the ice and snow!.
As always, a wonderful and helpful blog!
Great post, Debe, and I have reblogged it. One never knows when the perfect buyer will show up and why take the chance and miss it. Anyway, showings slow down during December so it's easier on the sellers anyway.
Debe this is a fantastic list of why it makes a lot of sense to stay invested during the holidays:)
Although this blog has way too much red and blue, it is full of good information as usual. I think agents spread the word that Dec. is slow because they want to take time off, too.
Thank you Debe for the terrific holiday tips for our sellers!
Have a wonderful weekend!
I brought you a present...
Close those pretty eyes, relax and listen :)
TLW...ROAR!
Great Blog as always also love your graphics. Happy Holidays to all
Debe, Love the blog and the graphics. Especially the glimmering tree in the responses. All of this information is soooooo true! Sell, Sell, Sell! All the best, Michelle
I can actually see the house prepared for selling from your description. Who would not want to buy it!
Hi Debe! - This is an EXCELLENT post filled with some great tips for sellers during the holiday season. If sellers could make their homes as festive looking as your post, they'd sell in no time! ;)
Debe, Great post and I think it's a wonderful time to show a home as well. Your keywords of "Tasteful Decorations" are just perfect, the home will be spotless and look just beautiful when it's decorated.
Debe...
These are some fantastic tips for selling a home during the holidays. I never really thought about it, but there are steps that we can take to sell more during the season!
Hi, Debe. I agree with Steve...I think buyers are in a much nore positive and generous mindset during Christmas and it's hard not to respond to a home decorated for the holidays.
I enjoyed TLW's "gift" of Celine Dion singing "O Holy Night. "That was gift for all of us, not just for you!
Heather: Excellent additions to my post. One thing that came to mind as I was showing homes yesterday was to avoid the blow-ups in the front yards and forgot to mention that. Thanks for adding that!
Russell: WOW! I'm honored to have YOU reblog ME! What a compliment! Staying busy right now is a good thing this time of year and something that we should both be so very thankful for!
Shirin: As always, thank you for your thoughtful comment. Check your email!
Margaret: Good point--showings are down but, those looking are SERIOUS!
Bill: I think about half of my sellers asked me this question this year so, I thought I'd write about it!
Kyle: That's true! You've mentioned the colors before and I appreciate your comments but, you don't have to read if my colors are too offensive to you.
Terrie: Well, thank you! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
TLW&M: You're such a dear--I needed that serenity about the time you posted it too!
Deb: This year it seems to be more important for them to know that for some reason--I thought I'd just put it in a post since so many of my sellers have asked that question of me this year.
Helen: Thank you! Happy Holidays to you as well!
Michelle: Well, thank you! Hopefully sellers will take heed that now is a good time to capture those serious buyers!
Jane: Thank you! You're too sweet! I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Donna: Well, thanks! I love this time of year, don't you?!
Carole: When I entertain, I have to spend days sprucing up the place during the holidays--if I were selling now, the cleaning and sprucing would already be done--a great time to entertain too!
Terrylynn: Thanks! I think the misconception that a home doesn't sell during the holidays is one that we must overcome this year, in particular!
Richard: Thank you! We're having to think WAY too hard this year, aren't we?!!
Leslie: Thanks so much! And, YES, I loved that and did as she prescribed--took the time to listen to that in peace and it was absolutely beautiful!
Hello Debe and thanks for the great post today, I love it. All good reasons to enjoy the Holiday seasons and hope for the new year. Enjoy!
Patricia Seacoast NH
Great Post
Some times I think the only one keeping us from selling homes in the winter is us
have a great day
tony
Debe, some great suggestions for sellers. I have been very busy with buyers lately and very frustrated with sellers that say, "Not this week-end, we have guests." or "not now, we have a party to get ready for." Do they really want to sell or not?
ebe, you are an artist! Really! I always look forward to stopping by for a look at your latest creative post! AND on another note, I totally agree. As for Arizona, many visit here during the winter months, and just want to "look" "in case." When it's 70 degrees in Arizona and colder in the east. why not? ;-)
I love the holidays so unfortunately if I was selling my home they would be distracted. But great advice.
I'm not a Celine Dion fan, but that was a wonderful rendition of "O Holy Night". I'm glad I read through the comments or I would have missed it.
I'm getting a lot of activity on my listings this year, which is due in part to low interest rates and the expanded tax credit.
Ok...it's like this....Should I compliment you on a great awesome post with great tips for selling your home during the holidays, or should I compliment you on the flashing tree in your signature?
Ok, compliments on both!
Debe, you made some great points. You are right that a house shows better when it is decorated for Christmas.
Debe
Your post is right on target, great advice.
Good luck and success.
Lou Ludwig
Hi Debe...congratulations on your feature post..This time of year home owners get to go all out with Christmas decor and of course Christmas smells. All of this makes a home very appealing all dressed up for Christmas...every home buyer will feel good after seeing a home decorated and smelling of Baked Goodies :O))
Nice post and thanks for the tips. It is true that there will still be buying and selling throughout the holidays.
Hi Debe -- The visual design of your post is as beautiful as your content is relevant, well said. Your posts are always a mental and visual treat!
Debe,
Nice points all I also send out messages to my clients that if they are doing decorating to let me know and we will go by and take pictures to post for the holidays.
Merry Christmas and have a great holiday with you and your family!
So I guess the Weird Al Christmas album and Griswold light display are out? ;^ )
Debe, excellent points and advice - there really are buyers all year round and sellers who realize this can benefit.
Wonderful advice! Any tips to encourage more action over the holidays is always welcome.
Debe, just excellent advice. And, we seem to be having more activity during the holidays so far this season.
Fantastic post! I AGREE to keep the house on the market (or list it) during the "season." How often do homes look so beautiful with Christmas decorations? Never.
Hi Debe,
You make perfect sense! Two of my listings just went under contract and they were wanting to take them off the market and go back on the last part of January! This year we are seeing increased traffic because many potential buyers, who had grown languid over the past year believing there was no urgency to purchase, changed their expectations due to the recent positive signs in the economy and are acting!
Debe,
I am in total agreement especially this year with the tax credit. I showed yesterday...and one of the homes really did show very well with it's tastefully done decorations.
I do think it depends on your area of the country just a bit. You have such mild weather....where we can get some pretty heavy snows. But you are right...if a buyer want to go out in all of that snow...they are serious!
Great tips on marketing duing the holidays.
Anytime is a good time to buy or sell. Seasonality has some impact, at least in San Francisco, but only by a little bit. One thing for certain, activity usually picks up after the holidays, hence, it might be better to wait after the holidays.
I personally LOVE showing homes during the holiday season - the homes feel warmer, cozier and more friendly! Holiday decorating can show off the potential of a house to be a true home!
Nice post Debe. I just had this conversation with a seller, who is wavering on to sell/not to sell during this month.
Debe - I have wondered what many Realtors think about selling during the holidays. Many decorations can really ruin a deal. Great suggestions! Congrats on the feature.
Great tips on marketing homes during the holidays. Buyers are out there and if they are looking during the holiday season, they must be serious buyers.
There is always a positive spin on each circumstance! The Holidays are a great time to market a home! Warmth sells and what can be warmer than a home decked out for Christmas? Thank you for the post!